Doro is a Swedish company which launched its first range of back-to-basics mobile phones in 2007, aimed at the elderly and people with limited dexterity. Using a Doro phone is like taking a step back in time. A time before smart phones, mobile internet or even camphones – this is an extremely basic handset.
Doro PhoneEasy …

Nokia 1100

Panic button

Sounds great

My Granddad (87) has been using an old Ericsson R380 that I bought for him years ago. It's orange with big black buttons (so easy to see) and a nice large screen. It also came with a cradle, so he doesn't have to fiddle about with chargers. The battery doesn't last now, though, so we've been looking for a decent alternative.

The black one looks rubbish (you can't see the individual black keys against the black background) but the white one looks just the job.

Ideal in schools

I want one

Cool! I want one. The buttons are big enough for my big fingers and I'm not going to get mugged for it. Actually, I don't want to use a crappy phone to listen to music. Or take photographs using a crappy plastic fixed-focus lens to create an image the size of a postage stamp - I use a camera to do that.

Pity about the price, if they could drop that an add the ability to send the odd text message, I'd buy one tomorrow.

Ideal for Daily Mail readers

Its quite clear that...

...an even bigger screen would be needed for most olde folk, making the buttons all jumbo sized wont help if they cant read the addressbook.

Plus I can think of one or two olde people that might make use of it right up to the point they really need it, that is when it's been left off the mains supply for a good 6 months and the battery is totally flat, and as a result damaged due to excessive discharge. Tell me this device is non-self-discharging-when-switched-off too.

Even if it has a charging docking cradle, its pretty normal fare for an old person to forget to put it back on charge. Or they'll remember for a while, THEN forget.

Until the manufacturers can release a phone with ZERO maintenance, including mitigating the need to recharge every 4 days, and not ever having to input numbers into the addressbook, then all this is useless - And YES, this is impossible.

As for the lack of SMS sending, well thats just ignorant to those olde folks who DO know how to do it, or are not too infirm to do it. A pointless limitation.

Its not like there aren't normal phones around now with big buttons, and vibrant large screens which would suit them down to the ground, as for complexity, well just dont tell them how to get to those features!

Picture the scene - an old lady has fallen in town, and asks a kind stranger who came along to assist, to contact her relations for help. That younger person CAN use the features needed to get a quick SMS out.

.

I wonder how feature-ful old persons mobile phones will be when us techy types grow old? I dread to think what with this expensive featureless piece-o-crap coming out of industry.

@Stu

I agree on your comment about the battery being flat when probably needed - thoguh having said that my parents have these as 'normal' mobiles - they never text or use voicemail - when they make a call they want to talk.

'Its not like there aren't normal phones around now with big buttons, and vibrant large screens which would suit them down to the ground, as for complexity, well just dont tell them how to get to those features!' - I find most non-tech people have a habit of finding the hidden features, changing the settings and then not being bale to use the device again.*

[not necessarily @Stu]

This phone has hardly any features/settings. Sadly you cannot turn off the annoying chime it makes when you turn it on - at least I was unable to find it....

But I feel this is a good idea - too many device these days are deisgned with too many great features which are too diffcult to use or avoid or just get in the way.

*My mother in law used to set the video by following the instruction manual to the letter. One step said select LP/SP and she had no idea what this was so pressed the button each time. Alternate recordings were SP and LP. Too many features I think.

Excellent albeit pricy

Great idea, and this would have been perfect for my Grandfather (RIP) who used to struggle even with a basic Nokia. I remember when my Grandmother had had a mobile for several months, she rang us (on landline) to complain that it didn't seem to work any more. Have you charged it, we asked? What do you mean 'charge"?, she replied! That's low usage for you, eh?!